TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW ME  

          My dear friends, in our gospel passage for last Sunday, Jesus asked his disciples a fundamental question “Who do People say that the Son of Man is?” Notice that Jesus was very pleased with Peter’s answer “ you are Christ the Son of the living God the Messiah” Consequently, Jesus declared Peter the Rock on which he would build his Church. Today we hear Jesus rebuking Peter with these strong words “Get behind me Satan.” What had Peter done to deserve such stern reprimand?

THE NOTION OF A SUFFERING MESSIAH

          During the time of Jesus, according to popular expectation the Messiah was going to be a great military leader, another King David, who would restore Israel to its former military greatness. This is the kind of Messiah that Peter also had in mind. This was however not the Messiah that Jesus represented. In fact several times in the gospels he told his apostles that his Kingship was not of this world. Jesus often told them that the Messiah would have to suffer and be put to death. This notion of a Suffering Messiah was entirely foreign and unacceptable to Peter. So out of concern for Jesus, Peter tried to stop him. He may have been thinking of himself too. Remember that a disciple of a Suffering Messiah was not a role to be cherished because the cross was the most brutal instrument of torture, no one wanted to be associated with the cross at all. When you were sentenced to death on a cross, you would suffer excruciating pain and your body would be left to be scavenged by wild animals. The cross was a terrifying reality.  And so, everyone avoided the Cross.  So it would make sense that Peter tried to stop Jesus from his mission of going to the Cross; Jesus rebuked him saying “Get behind me Satan”. God showed us the depth of his love for us when He willingly accepted death on the Cross so that all of us may partake of his Divine Life.

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW ME

          Through his great example of love which led him to the Cross, Jesus invites us also in today’s Gospel “ If anyone wants to be a disciple of mine he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow him.” What does the cross mean for us, it does not mean the indigestion problem you have, or the arthritis or the difficult relationship? The Cross means any sufferings which come into our lives because of the choices we have made for the sake of God’s Kingdom. The Cross means taking on the burden of sacrifice. The Christian life is the life of sacrificial service. To take up ones Cross is to sacrifice time leisure and pleasure in order to serve God through our service of others. “ If anyone wants to be a disciple of mine he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow him.”  To follow Christ is to be completely obedient to Christ and the road he has mapped out for us. You may have played the game “Follow My Leader” while growing up where everything that the leader did, no matter how difficult or ridiculous you had to copy. Similarly, the Christian life is a constant following of our leader, a constant obedience in thought, word, and action to Jesus Christ.  

MARTYR FOR CHARITY. ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE

          Think of the saints as people who took up their Cross daily and followed Christ. Think about the selfless courage of St. Maximilian Kolbe. As a young boy Maximilian had a vision of the Mother of God, her arms extended to ward him, holding two crowns, one white and the other red. Which crown would he chose? He entered the seminary and became a Franciscan priest. The Nazis arrested Maximilian and sent to a death camp in Auschwitz in Poland. On July 30, 1941, in retaliation for the escape of a prisoner from the camp, ten men in Maximilian’s cellblock were chosen at random to be executed. Maximilian saw that one of the prisoners had a wife and children, so he volunteered to take the Man’s place. The Nazis were very pleased to accept his generosity. Maximilian and the other prisoners were stripped naked, locked in a basement cell and left to starve to death. This Nazis grew impatient that some prisoners were not dying fast enough as they had expected so Maximilian and the other prisoners were killed by a lethal Injection on August 14, 1941. In 1982, Pope John Paul II declared Maximilian a Saint, acclaiming him as a Martyr for Charity. (Hence the Red Crown, blood, the Crown of Martyrdom)  What an incredible witness of a Man who took his Cross and followed Christ.   

EXAMPLE OF ST AGNES

          Think of St Agnes, a Roman girl who at the age of 12 was faced with a very difficult decision that no one should have to make let alone one so young; denying her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ or surrender her life to torture and death. St Agnes heroically chose torture and death. The Memory of St. Agnes’ witness endured decades after her death. A memorial was built to commemorate her great witness to the faith. Over the centuries this memorial was enlarged and embellished to become one of the grandest churches in the city of Rome. The Church of St. Agnes outside the walls. It is called such because it was built outside the ancient walls of the city of Rome. When you visit Rome please stop by and pray at the Church Of St. Agnes. St. Agnes took up her Cross and followed Christ.

FAITHFULNESS TO ONES WAY OF LIFE

          For the committed Christian, suffering is not a likely hood; it is a certainty. Being a disciple is a serious business. Yet this doesn’t mean that suffering is something Christians should seek. Jesus did not seek suffering; Gethsemane makes that clear. But suffering will inevitable be part of Christian life as it was part of Jesus’ life and the saints like St. Agnes and St. Maximilian Kolbe.
          Following Christ can be in small steps, God is patient. His challenge is invitation. What does following Christ mean in practice? It means faithfulness to one’s way of life, concern for others in whatever manner, the caring gesture, the sending of a condolence, those kind words,
“I am sorry.” “I forgive you.” all these add up.  
          Brothers and Sisters, as we approach the table of the Eucharist in today’s Mass, I would like to invite you to ask God for the Grace to carry your Cross and follow Jesus more truly; more profoundly. I would like to conclude my reflection today with this special prayer.

          PRAYER FOR LABOR DAY

Loving God; On this weekend, when we rest from our usual labors Jesus, we pray specially for all those who shoulder the task of human labor-in the market place, in factories and offices, in their professions, in our parish and in family life.
We thank you for the gift and opportunity to work; may our effort always be for the good of others and the glory of your name.
May those who are now retired always remember that they still make a valuable contribution to our church and the world by their prayers and deeds of charity?
May our working and our resting all give you praise always you who live and reign forever and ever? Amen.

 (New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies By Flor McCarthy, SDB was helpful)